“It has been an amazing and humbling journey to arrive at this moment,” Smith said in a statement. “I am thankful to reach this milestone and look forward to returning home and getting back to work to serve the constituents of the 37th Senatorial District.”

State Sen.-elect Matt Smith, D-Mt. Lebanon, said: “The immediate benefits of this project to our region are unmistakable (with) the projected creation of 20,000 full- and part-time jobs and a total impact to the state‘s economy of nearly $2.7 billion,” citing turnpike projections.

Matt Smith, a Democrat from Mt. Lebanon who represented the South Hills in Allegheny County while a member of the House, will have a broader constituency in the 37th District of the state Senate, which includes Peters Township in Washington County. He succeeds Republican John Pippy of Moon Township, who resigned his seat June 30, six months before the end of his four-year term.

The Smith family plans to spend New Year’s Eve with his brother-in-law’s family in Philadelphia, then head over to Harrisburg for the Senate’s noontime event.

“The 5-year-old and 3-year-old have been in Harrisburg before,” Smith said. “The 1-year-old has not. It’ll be interesting to see how he does during the ceremony. Generally, he’s a pretty good boy, so we’ll see. The girls are really excited because they get to wear their fancy dresses.”